Los Angeles Rams' bitter division rivals, the San Fransisco 49ers, managed to sneak away with a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve their season record to 5-4, but at what cost?
49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and placekicker Jake Moody were seen having what appeared to be an altercation on the sideline after Moody was unsuccessful on two crucial field goal moments. Samuel pushed the face mask of long-snapper Taybor Pepper after the crucial miss on the sideline.
Moody, in his first game back with the team after an ankle injury, was successful 50% of the time on his field goal attempts, but did come through for the team at the end of the game.
Frustration boiled over for Samuel after the non-successful field goal attempts in the big moments for the team after the 49ers made ground on giving Moody the opportunity. Samuel has addressed the altercation.
"Normally, I don't get like that, but I was frustrated in the heat of battle. You know I kinda got out of character a little bit, but I'll talk to Moody, and we'll get past it," Samuel said. “I wasn’t saying anything like crazy to him. I was kinda frustrated at the time, but he went out there and won the game for us. He wasn’t bothered by it, so we move past it."
Moody also had some words about the sideline altercation.
"It was an emotional game, and stuff like that happens all the time, we just move past it. We won, so that is all that matters," Moody said. "There doesn't need to be (an apology), it's the heat of the moment. I do gotta make those kicks, at the end of the day that is all I'm focused on."
The 49ers did end up winning the ballgame, but does lead some fans and media personalities to wonder if they were on the short end of the stick, the altercation could be a moment for the 49ers team to lose chemistry and confidence in each other on the field.
"This is the third or fourth game we have seen the special team be an issue for the San Fransisco 49ers, somehow some way, and cost them the chance to win a football game," Chris Simms said when addressing the altercation on Pro Football Talk. "The 49ers are different this year in that, thank God Christian McCaffrey is back cuz I think they need to outscore the good teams in football."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as Is Team Chemistry Cracking for Rams' Division Rival?.